Merry Christmas, Dammit!
Back in the glory days of Saturday Night Live, when Jim Belushi was a bumble bee and Steve Martin was wild and crazy, one of my favorite skit characters was Eddie Murphy's Gumby. These skits would crack me up, because the catch phrases Gumby would use were always something so out of character for a lovable clay figure. The first time I saw it, I so unexpected Gumby to let loose an "I'm gumby, dammit," that I couldn't stop laughing. My mom eventually came in and made me turn it off, because she didn't think SNL was something a 12 year old should be watching. She was probably right.
One of my favorite Gumby skits was the Gumby Christmas Special, "Merry Christmas, dammit," and this morning as I was browsing the online news, a came across an article by Lou Dobbs that made me reminisce about this skit and how applicable this phrase could be today. The article describes a situation where a Rabbi threatens to sue an airport because their holiday decor did not include minorahs. Last year, several retailers elected to use the politically correct "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" in their advertising and decorating campaigns. And every year, somebody in the city of Ontario tries to get the city to remove their Nativity story displays from the boulevard of Euclid Ave. This year, I've seen a lot of talking heads insisting that we need to get religion out of Christmas. And now it's time for me to chime in.
If you've been reading my blogs of recent, you know that I've done some research into the history of Christmas. If it needed to be summarized into one thing, it would be this - Jesus probably was NOT born on December 25th. We really don't know when he was born (Read the Bible if you don't believe me). Sometime in the history of the Church, it was decided that this day would be when we CELEBRATE the birth of Christ, something that I personally think should be celebrated with wild abandon. The fact that thousands of year of prophesy of a coming savior for all mankind came true that night, whenever it was, is cause for celebration that far outweighs any other reason. And since this time of the year already included so many celebrations, most centered around pagan traditions and the winter solstice, why not? And if the main reason for your personal celebration is the birth of Christ, then why not use "Merry Christmas" as your greeting of choice? There is no reason anybody should be offended by it. Just like any Christian should not be offended by "Happy Hanukkah," "Happy Holidays," or "Seasons Greetings." Unfortunately, "Merry Christmas" is under attack, and I felt the need to defend it. Understand that I am not in any way advocating that we go around telling each other "Merry Christmas, dammit," although I imagine after a few loaded egg nogs this could certainly happen, but we should be free enough in this country to use "Merry Christmas" without fear of being sued. So if you see me on the street, then know that I will probably greet you with "Merry Christmas," because this is why I'm happy and joyous this time of year. And even if you return a "Bah, humbug," I will try to not be offended, and find some comfort that at least your greeting is seasonally appropriate.
Merry Christmas
A link to Lou Dobb's article is below.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/12/Dobbs.Dec13/
One of my favorite Gumby skits was the Gumby Christmas Special, "Merry Christmas, dammit," and this morning as I was browsing the online news, a came across an article by Lou Dobbs that made me reminisce about this skit and how applicable this phrase could be today. The article describes a situation where a Rabbi threatens to sue an airport because their holiday decor did not include minorahs. Last year, several retailers elected to use the politically correct "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" in their advertising and decorating campaigns. And every year, somebody in the city of Ontario tries to get the city to remove their Nativity story displays from the boulevard of Euclid Ave. This year, I've seen a lot of talking heads insisting that we need to get religion out of Christmas. And now it's time for me to chime in.
If you've been reading my blogs of recent, you know that I've done some research into the history of Christmas. If it needed to be summarized into one thing, it would be this - Jesus probably was NOT born on December 25th. We really don't know when he was born (Read the Bible if you don't believe me). Sometime in the history of the Church, it was decided that this day would be when we CELEBRATE the birth of Christ, something that I personally think should be celebrated with wild abandon. The fact that thousands of year of prophesy of a coming savior for all mankind came true that night, whenever it was, is cause for celebration that far outweighs any other reason. And since this time of the year already included so many celebrations, most centered around pagan traditions and the winter solstice, why not? And if the main reason for your personal celebration is the birth of Christ, then why not use "Merry Christmas" as your greeting of choice? There is no reason anybody should be offended by it. Just like any Christian should not be offended by "Happy Hanukkah," "Happy Holidays," or "Seasons Greetings." Unfortunately, "Merry Christmas" is under attack, and I felt the need to defend it. Understand that I am not in any way advocating that we go around telling each other "Merry Christmas, dammit," although I imagine after a few loaded egg nogs this could certainly happen, but we should be free enough in this country to use "Merry Christmas" without fear of being sued. So if you see me on the street, then know that I will probably greet you with "Merry Christmas," because this is why I'm happy and joyous this time of year. And even if you return a "Bah, humbug," I will try to not be offended, and find some comfort that at least your greeting is seasonally appropriate.
Merry Christmas
A link to Lou Dobb's article is below.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/12/Dobbs.Dec13/
posted by -TP at 8:04 AM
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